With help from Eliza Collins, Helena Bottemiller Evich and Allie Grasgreen

THE COLLEGE RATINGS ARE COMING: But not any time soon. The Education Department released a draft framework today, detailing a list of things the agency is considering in its analysis of which institutions offer students the biggest bang for their buck. The highly anticipated draft has been delayed twice. And half the metrics — all of which aim to measure accessibility, affordability and outcomes — can’t even be measured right now. The plan is to rate more than 4,000 two- and four-year colleges by the start of the next academic year. But it could be at least a few years until the system the administration envisions is in place. And the ratings proposal will have to survive challenges from Congress or perhaps from the next administration. (The GOP is already planning its attack. Stephanie Simon and Allie Grasgreen report here: http://politico.pro/1ArUtTn) “The question is, will we actually see ratings for the 2015-16 school year,” said Robert Kelchen, an assistant professor of higher education at Seton Hall University and an expert on college ratings. “I’d be surprised … to be honest.” The department wants more public input on the framework; they’re taking comments through Feb. 17. Allie Grasgreen has the story: http://politico.pro/1sNP36B

Story Continued Below

— Kelchen, who has contributed to the development of the ratings proposal, asks a central question in an op-ed for POLITICO Magazine: “Should the federal government be in the business of rating colleges? And can it do them right?” He says the controversial ratings can still win public support if the Education Department “is smart about how it creates the system — and the way the Obama administration presents them to Congress and the public.” More: http://politi.co/1wSmWRY

— “I think the Obama administration and colleges have to continue to work together to fine-tune this ratings system to make sure it truly works to inform students,” said Gail Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College in Long Island, N.Y. “The U.S. Department of Education … considers this a ‘1.0 version’ of the college ratings system, which is very wise. Any system needs to be tested, and the robustness of the data which undergird the ratings needs to be validated in an iterative process if we are going to be able to frame a sensible system.”

GILLIBRAND DROPS DISPUTED SEX ASSAULT STATISTIC: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has dropped an increasingly disputed sexual assault statistic from her website. ChangeDetection.com shows how Gillibrand’s sexual assault resources web page [ http://1.usa.gov/1m2xWoB] no longer includes [ http://bit.ly/1C3Fi6M] a sentence citing the National Institute of Health Campus Sexual Assault Study, which concluded that one in five college women will be subject to rape or attempted rape. Gillibrand and others all the way up to President Barack Obama have cited that statistic in their push for colleges to better prevent sexual violence. But critics and media outlets [ http://wapo.st/1AvC1JA] have noted the study’s flaws: It included only two large four-year universities and had a low rate of response, with more nuanced findings than lawmakers suggest. (H/T @mstratford)

— Gillibrand spokesperson Glen Caplin declined to tell Morning Education why the stat was removed. “There are some who attack this statistic to claim that sexual assault on college campuses is not a problem,” he said. “They need to get their head out of the sand. The problem is real and it is pervasive. Without this distraction, their argument has no merit.”

INSIDERS LOOK AHEAD: There’s an appetite in Congress for reauthorizing No Child Left Behind and a majority of education “insiders” think it could actually happen by mid-year 2016. Whiteboard Advisors’ monthly survey also shows that with a Republican-controlled Congress, more than 80 percent of insiders think that lawmakers will try to roll back gainful employment regulations in the new year. Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed see legislation on student data privacy as increasingly likely and think the Common Core will stick around for the next five years. The survey: http://bit.ly/1zFSooG

CANDICE ON THE COMMON CORE: Tennessee’s incoming education commissioner is staying coy on the future of the Common Core in the Volunteer State. In an interview with The Tennessean, Lipscomb University Senior Vice President Candice McQueen said that “higher standards can take lots of different forms.” She added: "I think the future of Common Core will certainly depend on how we look at our standards review process… I'm going to ensure that it is done very well and that we are doing all the of refinements and changes that need to happen.” Gov. Bill Haslam, a Common Core supporter, launched a review of the standards this fall amid calls from fellow Republicans to repeal them altogether. McQueen has also been a Common Core supporter, though she was criticized [ http://bit.ly/1mprFar] for not adopting the standards while overseeing the private Lipscomb Academy. More from The Tennessean: http://tnne.ws/1sMoxKR

SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAMS CAN HELP PARENTS, TOO: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is touting a new study that suggests school-based obesity prevention programs can improve the Body Mass Index of parents, too. The study, published this week in the American Journal of Public Health, looked at the parents of children who participated in Shape Up Somerville, a community-based study in Massachusetts that tweaked school, home and community environments to offer healthier food and encourage more exercise, among other goals. The BMIs of parents participating in the program dropped by .411 points compared to parents not in the program. It’s a small improvement, but the researchers noted that modest changes can have population-wide effects. In Australia, for example, a .5 reduction in average BMI slowed the country’s 10-year projection for obesity growth from 5 percent to 1 percent. The study is here: http://bit.ly/1wou6i5 and more on Shape Up Somerville here: http://bit.ly/1x3DGce

CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS REPORT: It’s been 60 years since Brown v. Board of Education, but education is still separate and unequal, The Leadership Conference finds in a new report. In 1968, nearly 77 percent of African American students and 55 percent of Latino students went to schools made up mostly of students of color. As of 2010, that number had barely changed for African American students — and Latino students were actually substantially more segregated, with 74 percent of African American students and 79 percent of Latino students attending majority minority schools. The report also finds that students of color are disciplined more often than their white peers and graduation rates are dismal. At high-poverty schools, just half of African American students graduate. The report: http://bit.ly/1zC5fIJ

TEENS TO CAST THEIR BALLOTS: Generation Z is headed to the polls for the first time this presidential election and the youth vote will likely prove critical. So Northeastern University surveyed more than 1,000 young people aged 16 to 19 to see where they stand on the issues. Seventy-one percent said they believe in free health care, 63 percent felt that everyone has a right to become a U.S. citizen and 67 percent said they’re concerned about being able to afford college. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed said they planned on attending a four-year college. Of those not planning to attend a two- or four-year college after graduation, nearly a quarter said they weren’t attending because it was too expensive. The results: http://bit.ly/1vlYCtk

BREAK OUT THE POPCORN: Between the kids coming home for Christmas vacation and the cold weather, your family might be spending some days in front of the TV. If you want to make that couch time educational, the Fordham Institute has put together “Netflix Academy 2.0.” The group organized dozens of streaming videos into four major categories: science, literature, U.S. history and world history. Those categories are then broken down by even more specialized topics. For example, under science, families can browse films on dinosaurs, human evolution, earthquakes and volcanoes, outer space and more. Check it out: http://bit.ly/1DQKBbO

STRIVING FOR POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS: Applications are now available for the Student Support Services Program [ http://1.usa.gov/1sEISfe], which awards grants to colleges and universities to help students with basic college requirements and boost them toward completing their postsecondary education. Applications are due Feb. 2. More in the Federal Register: http://1.usa.gov/1wQUZdb

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

— Bryce McKibben is joining the Senate HELP Committee’s minority staff as a policy advisor for Sen. Patty Murray, the committee’s next ranking member. McKibben will focus on higher education and he’ll start Jan. 5. He currently works as a policy analyst at the Association of Community College Trustees and previously worked for Rep. George Miller on the House education committee.

REPORT ROLL CALL

— Two thirds of young people who leave high school eventually return and complete their degree or some kind of equivalency, but “re-engagement does not occur by chance.” America’s Promise Alliance: http://bit.ly/1IUbQCj

** A message from AccessLex Institute: AccessLex Institute advocates for federal policies that will benefit not only students, but also society at large.

Graduate and professional students go on to become lawyers, doctors, social workers and other client-serving professionals—critical jobs that require additional education after college. Policies that enable more people to go to law school, for example, will have an impact that reaches beyond individual law students—it will affect each client that these lawyers serve. Law school graduates fill high-need roles to ensure people from all walks of life are not denied access to adequate legal representation. Without the right federal policies in place, this same scenario can be applied to various fields across our economy.

That’s why AccessLex Institute will #MakeTheCase that policies which provide improved access, increased affordability and better value to all students are the right policies for America.

About The Author

Caitlin Emma is an education reporter for POLITICO Pro, covering federal K-12 education policymaking and politics, in addition to national trends.

Caitlin graduated from UConn in 2011. As a reporter in Connecticut, she covered everything from state policy and politics, to police, courts, community book clubs and restaurant health inspections. She’s also a loyal UConn Huskies fan.

Caitlin donated her bone marrow in 2010 and has spearheaded a number of bone marrow donor drives. Ask her about it, and she’ll gladly convince you to register as a donor.

A Massachusetts native, Caitlin now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her dog Roxy and husband Bill.